First Amendment of the Constitution of the U.S. states, among other things,
that "Congress shall make no law...or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the...right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to
petition the government for a redress of grievances." This not only is a
political right, it is a basic human right, an inalienable right and one of the
basic of all civil liberties.
We
have read about successful assemblies in our nation's Capital and elsewhere around
the country since its formation. There have also been instances when assemblies
started out lawfully but degenerated into bloodshed, due to the actions of
those unwilling to keep it peaceful. Famous examples include the Camp Jackson
Affair in St. Louis on May 10th, 1861, the Ford Hunger March in Dearborn,
Michigan on March 7, 1932, the Kent State Massacre at Kent State University on
May 4th, 1970 and although there were no deaths, we all remember the recent
incident at the University of California, Davis on November 18, 2011 when
Occupy Movement protesters were maced by police while having a sit-in.
Considering that we welcome free speech in the U.S., I am sure someone will
consider at least one of the above examples justified. It can be argued that a
fine line exists between a peaceful assembly and an unlawful assembly, but the
argument would be very short because a distinct difference exists between the
two. The legal definition of an unlawful assembly is "A meeting of
three or more individuals to commit a crime or carry out a lawful or unlawful
purpose in a manner likely to imperil the peace and tranquility of the
neighborhood." Sadly, history is replete with incidents where the actions
of a few turned a peaceful and lawful protest into an unlawful assembly. This
breed of scum are called agitators. Members of a lawful assembly should always
be on the lookout for the unruly among them. They range between overzealous
protesters to mercenaries planted by the opposition.
Just yesterday in
Washington, DC, a group of citizens descended upon the National Mall to protest
the placement by the Obama administration of barricades in front of such
monuments as the Lincoln Memorial and the World War Two Memorial. The
'barrycades' (as they are lovingly called in reference to Obama's childhood
nickname of Barry) had been erected because of the government shutdown - at
least that's what the official government explanation was - although it is
extremely ironic that the number of government employees used to keep the
barricades up exceed the number of employees needed to keep the monuments litter-free.
The protest had been organized and named the "Million Vet March," and
drew an assembly of thousands. If you really want to get down to brass tacks,
the lawful assembly became unlawful as soon as the Vets began tearing down the
barricades, but handcuffing paraplegic Vietnam Vets and wheelchaired World War
Two Vets would have been a PR nightmare for the Administration. As it was, the
protestors not only removed the barricades, they carried them to the front of
the White House and deposited them in heaps there. You can't say our Veterans
aren't thoughtful or clean up after themselves. They may have been technically
unlawful, but they were certainly peaceful. We can learn from them.
There did come a time
when Park Police (dressed in riot gear, complete with plastic restraint straps
and pepper spray) arrived and formed a line (that's what they do very well,
btw). A few protesters began shouting "Shame on You!" and calling
them Brown Shirts and other such things, but the other protesters hushed them
up quickly. This is one of the secrets in a successful strategy of non-violent
protests. There must be no reason for law enforcement to escalate the
situation. We know that happens sometimes anyway (as mentioned above) but in
today's atmosphere of technology when everything is recorded by multiple
people, a protest movement is wise not to instigate aggression. This is where
the Occupy Movement failed (although they failed for a number of other reasons
as well) because elements within the Movement broke numerous laws such as
larceny and assault, which are just reasons for the authorities to break the
protest up for good. The good citizens in the National Mall yesterday exercised
good judgment and restraint, and for that I commend them.
Protest! Raise your
voice! Keep your ear to the ground for local assemblies or national rallies and
participate, please! You can get out of the house without getting out of the
house by sharing information with others on the internet or donating to a cause
you believe in. But listen, if a 94 year old World War Two Vet can make a trip
across the country to help remove barricades from our national treasures, you
can surely help in some way, too. Just remember: it's ok to be outraged, as
long as you don't turn it into a violent brouhaha. It's ok to shout out your
protest, as long as you don't drag us all into a bloody donnybrook. It's ok to
fight the power, as long as you keep it civil. Now let's go out and make change
we really CAN believe in!
Photos taken from The
Blaze
Photo 01 by
@Gabrielmalor
Photo01 by
@Gabrielmalor
Photo03 by
@MelissaRNMBA
Photo04 by @JudgeLucas
Photo05 by
@WhitneyWaters14
Photo06 by @ZephyrK9
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